


Chapter Sixty-One: Magnets Coil

by CavalierConvoy



Series: MTMTE Series One: Shoot Straight with a Crooked Gun [62]
Category: The Transformers (IDW Generation One)
Genre: Gen, Invasion, Other, Refortification
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-06-24
Updated: 2015-06-24
Packaged: 2018-04-06 00:28:19
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,470
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4200948
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CavalierConvoy/pseuds/CavalierConvoy
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The crew on the <i>Lost Light</i> mount a defensive against all odds.</p><p>It isn't enough as the invaders outnumber, outgun, and outmanoeuvre their defences, hearding them into submission.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Chapter Sixty-One: Magnets Coil

Wasting away  
Rusting on the vine  
This mechanical halo  
Steps out of time  
You call for the angels  
But they've all gone away  
The future's not here to stay  
Let the past sing  
[Breaks God]  
Flays away the skin  
[Breaks God]  
The experiment begins  
[Breaks God]  
—["Magnets Coil (Wasting)"](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cKFFKPdQYss) by The Mercy Cage, from _Scree: Transmissions_

  
Maintenance Corridor #11  
_Lost Light_  
Now

" _Uboa_ ," Cavalier whispered. "Stuck in the room. Gotta wake up."

Bob cocked his head to one side as though demanding she explain further. They had been keeping a half-step ahead of the massive drones, sticking to the maintenance corridors too narrow for a standard-sized mech to climb through. Bob was proving to be an asset with avoiding the congestion of enemy troops swarming the decks. Gripping the head of the drone in his smaller hands, he snuffled the air at the intersections, taking simple cues from both the white and black Minibot and whatever extra sensory he possessed. 

"Next relay," Cavalier continued, "one floor down."

Bob chittered a warning, nudging her to the right of a junction.

"We gotta go down one floor," she stressed, pointing left. "The access panel is that way — "

_< <Seventeen-twenty-one.>>_

" — but we can find another way," she amended.

 _"Cavalier, relay to fall back on SB-Eleven,"_ Hound ordered. _"We'll refortify there!"_

A change of plans, then. "Ten-four, boss man!" Crossing her legs underneath her, she pulled out her datapad. "Short burst comms, amplitude modulation...go basic or go home. That I can do. We can do this, Bob. We can do this." She brought up her transmission program, calibrated to override the local area network's wireless connections. "Uboa. We need to wake from this nightmare."

Bob brought his head up, chirruped a warning as he worried the drone head in his smaller hands.

"Can't go yet; gotta calibrate a pulse — "

The Insecticon nudged her shoulder, hard.

"—five clicks, buggy! Five clicks to send an automated—"

Bob grabbed her midsection and threw her over his shoulder before dropping back to all fours, skittering down the shaft.

"—Oi!" Grabbing his back plating for support, Cavalier was about to snap another retort before the duct blasted open, where she had been perched five clicks prior. 

_< <Seventeen-twenty-one.>>_

"Fraggit!" she hissed, holstering her datapad and unhitching her railgun. "Shuttle Bay Eleven, Bob! Can you get us there?" 

He clicked what Cavalier hoped was an affirmative and broke into a gallop as the ducts collapsed, perforated by a burst of machine gunfire.

*

Huffer, Gears, and Hound

"What a time for my servos to stiffen up!" Gears snarled, ducking into an alcove to reload as Huffer popped up behind him to cover.

"Hound, what are we going to do?" Huffer demanded, his voice taking a tilt into his signature whine. "They've swarmed the maintenance corridors! We'll have to take the long way to regroup!"

The veteran tracker furrowed his brow, taking out three drones with well-aimed headshots before retreating behind a partition. "You two take the ducts — I'll hold them off."

"But Hound!" Huffer protested just as the grate above them crashed onto Gears' head. 

"Ducts are no go!" Cavalier shouted, clinging onto Bob as he dropped down. The Insecticon issued a series of panicked chirps before bolting down the corridor, the white and black Minibot holding on.

"Go with them!" Hound ordered his companions. Gears, making a production of cradling his head, wasted no time in following. 

Huffer hesitated. "But Hound — "

"Go! They'll need help refortifying!" the larger mech barked, shouldering the butt of his rifle once more and taking aim at the approaching phalanx of golden drones. Huffer gulped before complying.

Two more drones fell by Hound's attack before he had to reload; ejecting the magazine, he slammed another home, ratcheting the lock and aimed again, just as four drones at the back of the phalanx fell in rapid succession, the sidearm retort accompanying sprays of pink energon.

"Sweep 'em!" Artemis shouted, diving through the middle of the drones, keeping low as, distracted between the attack from behind and the rush through, the drones attempted to target the immediate threat. Skidding to a stop next to Hound, she spun on her heel, pulled herself upright, and fired six shots of her handgun. "Sit-rep!"

"Regroup, SB-11," he answered. "Your sidekick's clearing a path."

Sunstreaker swung his stolen sword in a wild arc, using his weight to add power to the attack, dismembering a quarter of the assailants. "Bob?" he demanded.

"With her." The combat-green mech, along with Artemis, finished off the remainder of the phalanx, alternating shots. "Let's go — don't know how long till reinforcements come in!"

"Let 'em come," Sunstreaker laughed, taking up the back. Both he and the black and chrome mech were stained in pink — and judging from both sporting the telltale berserker grins, the fluid was not entirely theirs. "Teach those fraggers a lesson!" 

"You want a fight? Let's fortify the shuttle bay first," Hound countered. "Take the point; Artemis, between us. What the hell do you think you're doing, anyway?"

"I'm only missing an arm, Hound," Artemis laughed, ejecting the magazine of her handgun; placing the firearm between her teeth, she reached behind, unhitched a new mag from her hip, and slammed it home. Returning her hold to the butt, she used her teeth to slide the jacket.

"I'm now understanding Hoist's frustration with you," Hound grumbled as she took off after the yellow and black heavy.

*

Smokescreen and Inferno

"This is weird."

Inferno glared at Smokescreen. "What, the fact we're being invaded isn't bad enough?"

"No, they're looking for submission, not kills," Smokescreen countered, doing a quick inventory of his conventional ammo. "They could have overrun us by now. They're hitting us with melee, firepower only if it fails. They're aiming to capture us, not kill us."

"That just makes everything sunshine and rainbows, doesn't it?" Inferno slammed home a napalm drum into his shotgun. "Here's a suggestion: let's firebreak the slag out of them. That'll slow them the hell down."

"I can already hear Maintenance screaming at us. Let's do it!" Pulling the pin of one of his signature grenades, Smokescreen lobbed it down the corridor. The bang drowned his next order "Go!", but Inferno caught the meaning as they retreated, the larger mech pumped a cartridge into the receiver, covering the rear as the speedster took point.

A cacophony of footfalls echoed through the hallway; Inferno's split second hesitation granted enough time for a warning.  
"Friendlies incoming!" Cavalier shrieked as she, precariously balancing on Bob's back plating with an iron grip, broke through the choking smoke, her railgun chambered on her shoulder. Following was Huffer and Gears, the former half-dragging his grousing comrade.

"Shuttle-Bay Eleven! Refortify there!" The orange and blue Minibot relayed as they flew past. 

" _Kaff kaff!_ And now my intakes are — _kaff kaff —_ plugged!" Gears snarled.

"Anyone else with you?" Smokescreen shouted after them.

Huffer's voice echoed from around the corner. "Yeah, Hound, Art, and — "

Sunstreaker, nearly all pink from spilt energon and wielding a strange sword, burst through the smoke, grin splitting his face with malicious intent. "Hey, Inferno!" he greeted. "Let's rip up these slag-suckers!" 

Artemis followed suit, her shell in a similar state of splatter from enemy fluid, darting past her companion. "Refortify first! Clear out after!" she snapped as Hound emerged, back first, his rifle in ready position. He rolled off Artemis's good shoulder as she took the hint, optic on the dissipating gas cloud, her handgun out in front of her in a slow, tracking manner.

"Smokescreen, Sunstreaker, take the point and clear a path!" Hound barked. "Keep the Minibots in the middle! Inferno, flank! Make us a — "

" — Firebreak!" Inferno interrupted, swinging his shotgun to bear and firing off three cartridges, each exploding on contact with a spray of flame. The fire spread with the gelatinous vehicle, clearing the smoke just enough to make out the drones marching onto their position.

Hound's order to fire was action instead of words: five invaders went down with clean head shots from his rifle; three others lurched backward as Inferno's napalm shot struck home; Artemis's two-in-the-spark-one-in-the-head approach took out another three.

"Out!" she snapped, sheathing Heaven and, in the same movement, unhitched her hammer. 

"Fall back!" Hound ordered, reloading as Inferno provided cover. "Maintain a defence until I give other orders!"

"Understood," she nodded, bolting after the consolidated group.

*

Trailcutter, Hoist, and Dipstick

Willing his internal warning system silent, Trailcutter could do little else to ignore his critical fuel level flashing in the corner of his HUD. His hands were too hot, scorched around his projectors. 

Beyond his force field, three drones were busy wearing him down by unloading everything in their arsenal. Their guns ran out of bullets five cycles ago, and now, between swords and their fists, bottlenecking the corridor... _Primus, they're gonna outlast me._

"I will never let you talk me into watching another _Five Nights_  let's play marathon with you again!" Smokescreen shouted, careening around the opposite corner with Cavalier in pursuit. Bob had taken to his master's heels once again as Sunstreaker followed, spinning on his foot to keep an optic down the corridor. 

"Trailbreaker! In the shuttle bay!" Hoist yelled as Huffer came to the larger mech's aid with dragging Dipstick through the reinforced doors. 

"Oh, you're not taking away our last line of defence just yet!" Sunstreaker chortled, gesturing for Bob to follow Gears inside.

"Max, who's unaccounted for?" Trailcutter demanded, fighting to keep the exhaustion at bay. "Blaster! Mainframe!"

"I couldn't reach the relay!" Cav shouted as Smokescreen barred her from exiting the bay. "We got attacked before I could engage the EBS!"

"We're on our own," Sunstreaker smirked.

"Anyone appointed on Security Detail by Magnus and/or Red, handle crowd control and maintain a defence position inside!" the specialist ordered. The burn was creeping now into his forearms now. _Yeah, that ain't a good sign._

"Just in case you're wondering," Sunstreaker choked up on the sword, "you think I look hot, you should see your girlfr — " The screech of tearing metal interrupted him. The yellow mech snapped his attention up as the ceiling. "Oh, frag. VENTS! THEY'RE IN THE FRAGGIN' VENTS!" 

"Close it up!" Hound ordered, with Inferno covering their retreat. "There's too many of them!"

"Fraggin' vents, Hound!" Sunstreaker stressed. "How are they in the fraggin' vents?!"

"Inside! Now! You too, Trailbreaker!" 

Sunstreaker stood upright, swinging the sword for an upward stabbing, and jammed it into the vents above. "They're in the vents!"

"Sunstreaker, listen to me, buddy!" Trailcutter snapped, keeping his focus on the three drones wearing him down. "Stay with us! We need you — "

Inferno slammed the butt of his shotgun into the back of Sunstreaker's head, rendering the panicking mech unconscious. With an apology, the first responder caught the heavy speedster in his descent, scooping him up over his shoulders.

"What the hell — "

"No time!" Inferno interrupted Trailcutter's chide, ducking behind the reinforced doors of the shuttle bay.

 _Later. Save it._ "Where's Art? She was with Sunstreaker — "

"She was right behind him, I thought — slag!" Hound tracked his aim back down the corridor they had come from. "'Breaker, we don't have time! In the bay, now!"

His hands felt they had been dipped in molten slag, and the insistent ping of low reserves returned full volume. Trailcutter backed up, but swung one arm to encompass the hallway Hound and the others had come through. "I'm good!" he answered. "Give me fifty clicks! Fifty more clicks!"

_I'm lucky to have twenty-five._

"Now! She knew the risks! We need to seal up before — "

There had been three drones to his right. Now, there were two; the head of a sledge hammer slammed down on the crown of one attacker, furthest right, crushing its cranial plating and neck.

Losing the element of surprise, Artemis, with a practised flourish, reattached the hammer to her magnetic sheath at her back, then slammed her right palm into the chin of the middle drone; a spurt of energon splayed from its mouth as she rode it against the final one. She pulled back her hand, dislodging the crystalline blade, before slamming the shiv into the forehead of the final drone. Two gashes marred her face: one from cheek to brow, just missing her optics; another running parallel, chin to opposite cheek. The heat vents in her helm were extended, fanned out. She was overclocked. 

More were coming on her tail; Trailcutter disengaged his right side generator, long enough for her to stagger closer, before reengaging. In this proximity, her heat sinks were roaring loud enough to be heard.

She snapped her arm, retracting the blade. "You good?" She gasped, pulling a magazine from her hip compartment.

Trailcutter said nothing, only nodded, grimacing in concentration as he maintained his force field. _Blatant lie; we're both ten clicks from shut down._

Placing the mag between her teeth, she unsheathed Heaven. Ejecting the spent magazine, she inserted the new mag into the handle and used her thigh to slam it home. She hesitated, then rested her head against his shoulder. "Thank you," she whispered. "You're an inspiration. Keep everyone safe."

Before he could respond, she kissed him, breaking his concentration long enough to drop the field.

She had intended him to throw the force field back up once she broke away to face off with the drones; instead, he dove, throwing himself on top of her and placing his hands over his head in universal surrender. With his weight, she was pinned. 

"What the hell are you doing?!" Artemis snarled. 

"Listen to me for once," he hissed; he convinced himself the anger lacing his words was at the situation, not towards her. "You are not a cog, you are not disposable, you are not replaceable. Yes, you are a force to be reckoned with at one-hundred percent, and you've hit legendary status with current events, but for Primus' sake, will you let me cover you for a change?"

The drones surrounded them, repeating the same number. Guns were trained on them, but no one fired.

"They're taking surrender, Art," he whispered. She was running hot; coolant fans were working overtime in her brain casing, whirring angrily in his audio receptor. "Faith, Art. Rod and the others are moon-side. They're going to find Magnus, bring him back. You have faith in one thing, Art. Hold onto it. It's what's keeping you just, holding you together. The moment you lose that faith, you'll lose yourself, and I can't allow that to happen. We can't afford to lose you. I won't lose you."

She stopped struggling, pushing Heaven away from her before raising her hand, covering his.

"Hold onto that faith," he repeated. "Please, trust me. everything will work out, I promise."

 _You were always good,_ he chided himself, _at telling convincing lies._

 **NEXT CHAPTER:** Behold the Machine


End file.
